Missing: Social Groups + Group-forums

[erich37]

XenForo is great as it is, but I think one of the Core-Features which are still missing are some sort of "Groups" so that users can associate themselves to certain Groups.

Maybe also having Group-Forums for each of those Groups ?

For example, XING.com is using Group-Forums (public or invitation-based), which can be applied for by moderators to "run" a certain Group, so people can set-up their own Group-Forum based on their interest and they can invite already existing members or people who are not yet members of your website to join this specific Group.

So this would be free viral-marketing for your very own Forum.

Also see this suggestion:
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/suggestion-replace-members-page-with.2773/

 

[Brandon_R]

They want to do this but they want to do it right. Give them time to think

 

[Mark.B]

I don't think it's something that needs to be in the first release, though I've no problem if it were to be.

But the implementation has to be lots better than vB's. Now, I'm acutely aware that Kier headed up the team that built vB's social groups, so I hope he isn't offended when I say it just didn't work. I fully understand that this was due to the core architecture though, it needed content types in searches and that simply wasn't there. It was an attempt to bolt something modern onto something which by then was already dated, code wise, it was a valiant attempt but for most sites it didn't work as nobody ever saw Social groups content.

It's also no better in vB4.

From a personal perspective I'd rather they focus the limited resources on the forums first, which I'm sure is what they will do.

 

[Alpha1]

While I doubt it will be implemented very soon, I will not be able to migrate without it. Social Groups on my forum are very active, even though vb social groups are a fail. I do not want to loose my content.
Something similar to google groups, usenet would be very nice to have.

 

[ArnyVee]

I've always wanted to use Social Groups with vBulletin, but it seems like there has to be so much work to get them to work in our favor.

We'd need to find a way to incorporate them into the forums (maybe alerts would be a good option for new comments/notes to the social groups) and/or have them run independently in a way that would bring a way to share documents or have customized avatars or some sort of 'special' feature to help entice membership.

 

[Russ]

I disable them on my community, it's something extra I don't want on the forums because honestly I see no point in them. HOWEVER I'm aware some communities will need them

 

[erich37]

similar thread:

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/what-do-you-want-out-of-this-product.1442/page-4#post-23606

 

[anotheralias]

Social groups worked like this: someone would form an I Love Sawyer! group, people would join it, a few people would emphasize "yeah I love Sawyer too!".... The End. But what was popular was a usergroup you could join that would put a tiny "I love Sawyer!" icon on your userid. (That's all it did - nothing more.)

 

[erich37]

hmmm.. what Xing.com is doing, they actually do not have Forum-categories, but they have just Group-Forums.
So users can start their own Groups and have their Group-forums.

You might want to check it out to see how it works.
Not sure of any other way of how to simply and logically combine Groups and Forums ???

Any ideas of how to build "Groups" into XenForo ?

I am sure Mike and Kier have something along their sleeves.....

 

[Forsaken]

I'd love social groups that actually were implemented correctly.

I can already see them being much better if they're added to XF.

 

[Grover]

As long as they can be completely disabled without leaving any trace whatsoever on my platform... I have no use for them in any shape or form. Obviously, everyone has different wishes.

 

[erich37]

Dear Mike, Kier,

could you please let me know whether some sort of "Social Groups" will be included into XF (either in core or as an add-on in the future) ?
I would need this information for planning purposes.

Many thanks,

 

[Mike]

Couldn't say either way really. As always, it depends on the demand for it and for other things.

 

[erich37]

thank you for your feedback, you are very quick in replying..... incredible !

 

[Lisa]

Social groups are one of those things that work superbly on some forums, and die a long and torturous death on others. I find they work well on book-related sites - where people can have a group dedicated to the novels of a particular author, which can make it easier than loading up forumhome with a million forums for each author out there.

I don't think I've seen social groups work well on a less-defined niches though. Not really going anywhere with my comments, mind you lol

 

[Dean]

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/what-do-you-want-out-of-this-product.1442/page-4#post-21161

From Kier.

 

[dieketzer]

as mentioned earlier, groups were reduced to pretty much nothing more than an opt-in profile icon system due to its poor integration into the larger forum.
i really hope groups arent dismissed based on past poor implementation.

 

[dieketzer]

i suggested something similar, and it was more or less rejected by mike.
im thinking it is yet another candidate for for a mod.

XenForo is great as it is, but I think one of the Core-Features which are still missing are "Social-Groups" so that users can associate themselves to certain Groups and also Group-Forums for each of those Groups.

Maybe something like you set a figure (say 10) that upon a group reaching that number of members the group leader got to start a forum of which they were moderators...

There needs to be some feature like that so that users are getting involved and not standing alone in the dark.....

 

[Alpha1]

It would be very nice to be able to combine social groups with interests listed on profiles.
i.e. If a member lists on his/her profile that he/she is interested in a topic, then the user receives an invite to the related social group.

Another feature I'd much like to have is to connect subforums with groups, so that users that have interest in a specific subforum can unite in a related group. THis could also be done from profile. i.e. select favourite forum(s) from drop down > receive invite to social group(s)

Another feature would be to have project focussed groups. Such groups would need to be able to assign tasks and have very basic project functions. Social Groups work great to collectively work on projects. Especially when related to forum improvement.

 

[darkon]

I didn´t like the Socialgroups in vB and i sure won´t miss them around XF

 

[Stuart Wright]

Social groups do have a place in my opinion.

For example, gaming clans need their own private forums in which they can discuss tactics etc.
Social groups also enable people to hold off topic discussions which you might not want held in your main/public forum.
Our members have created social groups for football teams, video gaming and game trading, group buys and sport.

What are they? Well they are merely user created forums. The owner of the social group dictates the name and permissions for the forum. Whether members can join automatically, after authorisation or by invitation. Whether messages on there are publicly viewable or private. Maybe even having a custom design.
Social groups need to be in a separate area from your official forums, but in every other regard, can they not be handled in exactly the same way as other forums?
One significant reason why I think vB social groups don't work so well is that they are hard to find. They need, I think, to be presented in the same way as the usual forums under a Social Group category.

Referring back to gaming clans use, I think xenForo offering social groups in a way that is as well considered and implemented as the rest of the software would give it a unique selling point for people wanting to set up clan forum hosting sites.

So I support the suggestion for social groups, though I do appreciate that it's somewhat down from the top of the list of priorities.